As part of their preparations for the upcoming World Championships in Denver, Lacrosse Ireland faced off against Augustana College from Illinois in a friendly last Thursday.

Ireland’s fielded an experimental side in order to blood some new talent ahead of the World Championship. They came out on the wrong side of a 4-14 score but will take a lot of positives from what was a highly competitive match against a top class team.

Ireland started slowly and were put on the back foot by a strong Augustana opening. Augustana comfortably won the first and third quarters but Ireland held their own in the third quarter before finishing strongly and winning the final quarter.

There were some standout performances by Sean Gibson who netted twice and Kevin Quinn performed strongly between the pipes. Ireland’s other scores were Cillian Murphy and James Nolan who each scored once.

Ireland will now welcome back their more experienced players but will be happy to have seen the new boys get some invaluable experience against a quality outfit like Augustana. Ireland’s preparations are coming along nicely and expectations remain high for Denver!